Five reasons to be excited about Penn State basketball in 2022-23
Penn State has and always will be a football school, I don’t think anyone is disputing that. Other sports such as Volleyball, Wrestling, and Hockey all have strong reputations built on a plethora of national championships.
Looming in the dark like a caged animal is the Penn State Men’s Basketball team. They have never won a Big Ten title, they last won a conference title in 1991 but they were a part of the Atlantic 10 then. For an even further hilarious thought. 2011 is the last time the team was a part of March Madness and at that point, Barack Obama was in his first term and Lebron James hadn’t won an NBA title.
2022 will be a new year, a promising year, for Penn State Men’s Basketball. Will they win a national championship? Absolutely not, but that doesn’t mean they will not be a fun watch for fans.
Jalen Pickett is back
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Jalen Pickett was Mr. Do-It-All for Penn State last year as he proved to be the most complete player on the team. Pickett averaged 13 ppg, 4 apg, and 4 rpg all the while handling defenses assignments against the best players in the conference. His returning to the team this year will be critical to any success the team has this year.
Coach Micah Shrewsberry is perfect for the job
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Last year was Micah Shrewsberry’s first year as the head coach under the Penn State banner and he showed his team is going to play with one thing guaranteed, heart. The run they had at the end of the year in the Big Ten Tournament should set the course for the start of this year, Penn State playing tough and with heart is perfect for Big Ten basketball.
They play tough defense in the Big Ten
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Highlighted slightly above, Shrewsberry and his Nittany Lions have shown they will play tough. While their offense was one of the worst in the nation last year, they had a top 50 defense out of 328 qualifying teams. That number shouldn’t go unnoticed and I am sure it hasn’t in the Big Ten.
They faired well with a tough 2021 schedule
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Last year they had the 17th hardest schedule in all of division one college basketball last season, but they still found a way to win 14 games with a less-than-spectacular roster. This drives home the point, this Penn State team will play with grit and heart and keep themselves in way more games than they should this year and beyond while they build something.
A young team a lots to learn and experience this year
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Penn State lost a lot of talent to graduation, but none to the NBA sadly. That being said, that means this team is going to grow together and could be a force in the Big Ten in the next two to three years. Will there be growing pains? Absolutely, but in the long haul it could be worth it, only time will tell.
